Chapter 5: Coming Together

When Chunta predicted that they would receive wealth and prosperity overnight, Hakoda and the others had believed it was just crazy talk. Now, they could only brood over how right the shaman was. They fumbled to summon the Council of Elders into a series of emergency meetings with the visiting delegates while the tribesfolk erupted with excitement once more international ships reached the shore and unloaded abundant provisions. Under the instructions of Sokka and Bato, the Southerners cleared the way for foreign masses to fill their pathways. Within an hour, the place had turned into a center of cultural fusion unlike anywhere else on the planet. Air Nomads strolled along the wild snowy plains while representatives from the Earth Kingdom tried to keep themselves from slipping over the ice. Fire Nationers repeatedly warmed themselves and the people around them while Northerners went about exploring their sister tribe. Chief Hakoda had become busier than he had ever been in his entire life seconds after the next wave of Northern ships hit the land, and with Sokka as his support, he immersed himself completely in revival efforts alongside Ivaneq, the leader of the Northern delegates.

The meeting sessions began with a complete explanation of the situation of the tribe to the international representatives. How Southern men would set out on long and daunting voyages to trade the few goods the tribe could produce, the little fish and game they could catch, the anticipated trip to Ba Sing Se or the Fire Nation capital to vent out the problems of their community and seek solutions.

And all at once, the Southern Elders became overwhelmed by the possibilities of recovery. So many possibilities presented from each nation in response to the struggles endured by the Land of La. The industrial countries were the first to pitch in. Both the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation were equally interested in Sokka's proposal for the massive mining project involving several mines, which were homes to different minerals and rare gemstones. Representatives immediately stepped forward and accepted partnerships in the deals, granting Sokka most of the authority over the entire project. Other trading partnerships (some of them being tripartite deals due to the Air Nomads' lack of extensive industrial involvement) were also established to where the luxuries of fertile soil would be provided with the exchange of untapped resources from the South. Furthermore, the debt owed to Lee and Donghai was quickly resolved via a promised share of the profits, which would be earned through the Ba Sing Se partnership, with prominent Earth Kingdom cities like Omashu. Needless to say that Sokka's high-risk Ba Sing Se trip was ruled out.

An additional interest expressed by the tripartite group was tourism; like the Northern Tribe, the South was a beautiful tundra that was home to bewitching glacial scenery and exotic snow forests. And of course, the famed celestial lights (in this case, the Southern Lights) which bounced off of the icy structures and frozen lakes, encasing the land in different blends of color. One major advantage this posed was greater accessibility; the South did not have walls like the guarded North, and the treacherous, fortress-like ice at the North Pole didn't always prove to be convenient for travellers from other areas. Once properly renovated, the South Pole would be able to gain much tour-based revenue along with popularity.

On the other end of the spectrum were obviously the Air Nomads, who proved to be supportive in their own ways. They held a limited agricultural economy, and the main exports from the four Air Temples involved textiles, crafts, flora, fruits, and sweets like fruit pies, jelly cakes, and other pastries. The monastic culture bonded with the tribals over crafts, textiles, and herbs, especially, which were overseen by Chieftess Kya and the other women. Despite Sokka and the men delivering the crafts back and forth over the years, the monks became interested in the South's abundance of arctic saffron flowers lining the boundaries of its mountains. This flower type was notable for its orange pigment that colored their sacred robes and also added the saffron spice to their cuisine. Apart from herbs, crafts like prayer beads, mats, and baskets were highly appreciated so long as they weren't made of animal pelts, and along with new trades, existing trades were strengthened. On a non-profiting note, the Air Nomads were also among the ones greatly taken aback by the imagination of the celestial lights. The mountains, the coniferous forests beyond the mountain stretch, and the natural serenity attracted them as locations apt for spiritual disciplines and oneness with the beauty of nature. This would mark the influx of more monks in the near future and increase spiritual camaraderie between the two cultures.

And of course, the South's most crucial ally: the sister tribe. Northern agents had insisted on the more vital interior methods of recovery, starting with the revival of fisheries. It was astonishing how many fish had been hoisted across the world to both feed the people and stock up empty lakes and rivers. It was also arranged that several fish ponds would be set up in each village, and nutrients and arctic plants were to be introduced to increase the fish population as soon as possible. Apart from the fishery sector was the land itself, but the North held a solution for that, too. They began with unloading the imported ships, which contained crates and carriers of animals ranging from caribou to buffalo yak and various other arctic species. Heated discussions followed with regard to tighter conservation laws forbidding excessive hunting until the land was repopulated with game. What would normally take several years can be reduced to a few years if these laws were staunchly followed. Not that there would be a necessity to overhunt again with so many trading missions and provisions of meats in store.

These were the solutions presented as of now, and there were bound to be more, but already, the current plans held lots of promise despite being loads of hard work. There were plenty of Northerners, though, who had come to stick around and help out. Some even brought along their families, indicating their promise of staying as long as necessary. Sokka still held the underlying grudge that it took the Northerners this long, but he wasn't going to lie and say he wasn't moved. He still appreciated all efforts, big or small, to the fullest, and as the hours passed by, his pessimism slowly lightened.

So much had been planned in the course of a few hours. So much was to be said and done, so many changes were to take place in the near future involving so many different groups of people...and yet, very little was mentioned regarding the person behind all of this: the princess of the North. The ever-cynical side of him was not sure if he should label these somewhat-extravagant efforts as her ways of showing off...or if he should really be awed by the prowess of her helping hand.

How could the members of a tightly knit community not know they have a princess?

It was a question that kept distracting him throughout the various meetings despite every ounce of his being telling him to focus on the golden opportunity. He couldn't keep from noticing the fact that the Northerners they were willing to carry out her commands to every last letter, either she had to be ruthless (which didn't seem feasible if she arranged for such plentiful, generous opportunities) or Arnook had to be ruthless in making sure her orders were carried out (which also wasn't feasible considering he concealed his own daughter from the world for some reason). It's not like he could pry for answers or explanations; clearly the situation demanded of other things and moreover, the Northerners obviously didn't know much about the princess given the one week they knew of her existence.

"So are we all on board with the renovations?"

Since renovation went hand in hand with improving tourist prospects, Ivaneq had proposed that the grandeur of the South could be intensified if the leaders of the tribe allowed for it. This included expanding the chief's current igloo or constructing a vast palace in its place. Of course, the latter option was favored. Along with that would rise the possibility of a culturally diverse hub in the form of organized arctic plazas and open bazaars selling intricacies and delicacies, and it was needless to say that everyone in the chieftain's family along with the Council of Elders were very supportive of the idea.

"But it seems like the prince is not interested."

A contemplative Sokka jutted out of his thoughts and looked up at Ivaneq and the other Northern delegates. Kya placed a hand over her son's shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine."

Ivaneq was not entirely convinced. "Do you really favor the construction of the Southern Water Tribe Royal Palace, Brother Sokka?"

"Yes, of course. Sounds good."

"He's exhausted," Kanna pitched in. "He'd been hunting all day yesterday and overnight."

"If that's the case, then it's alright, but if there really is a problem regarding the renovation plans, please do let us know. There is no pressure or force in this matter." Ivaneq turned back to the group. "You see, we were hesitant to ask this directly. Her Highness repeatedly advised us to be considerate of your egalitarian values. She finds your solidarity with the community truly admirable."

And that was it. The only time she was referenced throughout all of their meetings. It was no surprise if she was fascinated given how sheltered she may have been. Sokka couldn't imagine how it would've been if he or Katara had been sheltered in such a way. He couldn't envision a world in which the soon-to-be-ruler was completely suppressed from public eye.

What a life that would be.

By the time the noon sun climbed high up in the Southern sky, the meetings concluded for the day. Several guests crowded around in Chief Hakoda's igloo to organize the birthday celebration of the South's younger prince. It was an impromptu event of such a vast scale. All morning, Kohana had been running around, adorned by the shark-tooth necklace crafted by his brother and the new parka made by his grandmother. He had been stuffing his mouth with imported specialties like the roast duck prepared by the "aunties with metal bracelets" and the fire flakes gifted by the "uncles with fire hands." He also crammed sweets into his mouth and smearing his face and his friends' faces with pastry icing. He and his friends have also been licked several times by the sweet-toothed lemurs which had hung around their igloo, and to their greatest delight, the kids were even given several rides on the sky bison. Afterwards, they went sledding with Sokka, Katara, their friends and their friends' children. It was mostly a teaching moment for the young prince; he was the one who ended up showing the foreigners the magic of Antiman's Peak, laughing every time they fell out of their sleighs with hysterical screeches and landed in heaps of body-freezing snow. Later that day, Sokka and Katara also took him to Lady Nagara's igloo where he could pick out his favorite husky.

"Alright, bearcub, listen up," Sokka said. "If we're gonna get a snow husky, we have to make sure we can take care of it, alright? From now on, you're gonna be the one that feeds it and takes care of its every business. No asking your big brother to take them out on walks and potty breaks and—"

But Kohana obviously wasn't listening as he chased around the three available huskies and played with them. "Sokka, can I pick out another one?"

"Two little monsters?"

"Oh come on, Dad, Dad said he can get another one if he likes," his sister frowned. "It's his birthday, Sokka, let him choose. Now that we can actually support two huskies."

Kohana giggled as the puppies pounced over him. "Actually, can we have all three of them, guys?"

"What?!"

"He's welcome to take them all," Nagara smiled. "No matter how many riches we get in one day, I know I still can't support them all. No one else is coming up to buy one."

"Don't fuel the flames, Aunt Nagara," Sokka sighed. "One husky, Kohana. One."

"But what about its brothers and sisters?" Kohana pouted. "Oh, and what about their mommy and daddy? They will be really sad without their mommy and daddy."

"Five huskies?"

"Sliding up the scale, aren't we?" Even Katara was looking quite concerned at this point.

"Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease?"

Eventually, the trio ended up each holding a husky in their hands while the mother and father huskies trailed behind them. Everyone knew that Kohana would most definitely not be the one to take care of their newest additions to the family.

"Can't say no to the birthday boy, huh?" Sokka turned to his sister. "Have fun cleaning up all the husky poop, Katara."

"You were the one who still paid for them, so you have fun with that."

But at least the birthday boy was appeased. Or so they thought. "Hey, Sokka, imagine how it would be if we had a lemur and a sky bison—"

"Are you trying to open up a zoo right now?"

"Can we at least have a sky bison?"

"That is a definite no."

"But I waaaant one!" he stomped his little feet and jumped up and down, making cracks in the ice. "I want a sky bison! I never get to have anything I want!"

And with the rest of the adults caught up in other business, there was no one else who would be able to calm the boy down.

"You promise? You promise we'll get one?"

"I said I'll ask one of the monks—"

"And the lemur?"

"What, no! You just said—"

"I want a lemur, Sokka, you have to promise—!"

"Okay okay—"

"Say you promise!"

"I promise I will ask—"

"No, promise me you'll get them—"

"I can't get anything for you if I can't ask!"

By the time Kohana's feast had been arranged, complete with the arctic hen his brother had caught for him, Kya had given him a bath twice to rid him of sky bison and snow husky saliva, and by the end of the day, his favorite treats from each of the other nations ended being the fruit pies offered by the "grandpas in yellow-orange robes" who were amused by his requests and let him keep a lemur and an unassigned sky bison pup much to Pakku's near heart-attack. Either way, there were no long-lasting oppositions; it was a day of overabundance and camaraderie. It was all like a dream.

"Now now, nothing's over just yet," a Northern representative smiled as he stepped into the igloo, followed by a few attendants holding several packages. "The princess has sent gifts for your family, Chief Hakoda."

Since when did Her Mysteriousness have time to think about the royal family? Sokka would've imagined her being fed up from having made so many preparations. Show off.

"As if she hasn't provided enough for us as it is," Pakku said. "Now gifts, too?"

"We're not sure if we can handle too many benefits in one day," Kya followed, her eyes widening when she received her package— the biggest of them all standing at six feet long and five feet wide. "Oh my, this is..." When the Southern chieftess opened the package, she was overwhelmed to the extent that her eyes became brimmed with joyous tears. Standing before her was a shrine customized to fit the two elegantly statues inside of it. One of them was a black marble statue of La, a figure of a handsome, surprisingly pleasant man in black robes possessing a strong build, claws, fangs and beaded eyes. The second statue was made of white marble and was sculpted in the image of a beautiful white-robed goddess holding a torch: the Torch of Wisdom hailed by the scriptures that Kya repeatedly immerses herself in. Both statues were marked by the design of a koi fish of the opposite neutral color on their chests. The La figure held the design of a black-spotted white koi fish on his sternum, and the Tui figure bore the symbol of a white-spotted black koi fish on her bosom. The rays of light from outside poured in through the windows and fell upon the marble sheens, making the statues glisten.

"This is beautiful!" Kya brushed at her dampened face and laughed with excitement as everyone else gawked at the gift. The chieftess clasped the statues to her heart and ran her fingers over the intricate details, placing their previous tiny statues into the new shrine and running around to rearrange the prayer room.

"It's a very good omen if the Spirits find their way to one's home," Kanna said with a grand smile of her own.

Sokka caught himself looking on with a grin as well. He would've rolled his eyes and shrugged off what he believed was pointless religiosity had it not been for the look of utter happiness in his parents' faces after such a long time. For that, at least, he had to give the princess credit.

"This is for Princess Katara," an attendant announced. Turned out Katara received a hand-crafted purse of an exquisite indigo hue complete with lavender designs. The purse housed many different compartments for travel convenience. There were also sealskin pouches designed to hold water.

"This is such a beautiful color," the Southern princess ran her fingers over the purse. "And these pouches are really convenient."

More gifts came into view. "This is for the little one," the attendant said. "Oh, and this one, too. And this one. Wait, one more..." Several packages were placed before the young prince, who ripped open the wraps one by one and let out excited squeals. From water shooters to plush toys to storybooks and Spirit roleplay masks and costume sets and regal clothing, the boy had them all and bounced all over the place. At this point, he had completely stopped nagging his older brother for more pets.

"Look, Sokka! I even got my favorite mask! The panda seal!"

"That's great, sport."

"How does the princess know we have another son?" Hakoda asked.

"The last letter sent by Prince Sokka five years ago expanded on the difficulties of providing for the young with resources running low. In that conversation, he briefly mentioned his infant brother."

She took that one detail and turned it into all this? But there were zero complaints overall. The igloo which had trouble housing even a few more fish than necessary to start the day now held piles of intricate decorations and gifts, and everyone couldn't help but be grateful. The princess sure knew how to satisfy everyone. From different kinds of jewelry and exotic scents and perfumes to layers upon headdresses, layers of coats, and other latest Northern fashions, everyone in the family, even Bato, their family friend, received plenty, specified and nonspecified. Well, everyone except Sokka. He obviously had a share in the more general gifts, but so far, he was the only one who didn't have a gift named specifically for him.

Not like I was expecting one anyway.

"Ah, here it is. The last one." It was a thin package about five feet in length followed by a scroll canister adorned with a fancy blue ribbon. Sokka looked from the gift to delegate holding it out to him.

"Her Highness made sure not to leave anyone out."

Sokka took the package and the scroll but didn't peer into either of them. He quirked his eyebrows. "Does Her Highness have a name?"

The man shifted uncomfortably as did the other Northerners. "We don't know it."

It got really quiet, and it was easy to tell that Hakoda and the others had reached a level of curiosity that paralleled Sokka's. How could they not know her name?

"Well it won't hurt to call her Tui for now," Chieftess Kya said with a warm smile. "She helped us just in the nick of time. Just like Tui would."

By nightfall, hundreds of tribesfolk and foreign friends gathered at the center of the city beneath the aurora sky. While the colors danced vibrantly over them all, concealing the lunar eclipse and bringing awe and beauty to the scope of a once-troubled tribe, Hakoda struggled his way up with Sokka and Ivaneq as support in the middle of the crowd, drawing on all attention.

"We gather here tonight to celebrate the reunion of not only the sister tribes, but also the world's beautiful cultures and peoples," Hakoda said. "Never has the South looked so complete and filled to the brim with love and support, and for your helping hands, the Land of La is eternally grateful. Let us highlight the brave leaders of all of our empires for their wonderful contributions: the admirable monks of the Air Nomads, the honorable Lord Iroh of the Fire Nation, the esteemed King Kuei of the Earth Kingdom, the respected Chief Arnook of the Northern Water Tribe and most importantly, the blessed Princess of the North whose correspondence brought us all together. May the Great Ones smile down upon all of us. Let us embrace our differences with pleasure, and let us bring to light our universality. Let us rejoice in peace and lifelong happiness as one family, one community. Let us forever be bonded by kinship, friendship, and fraternity. In the name of Tui and La! In the name of Yin and Yang! In the name of harmony!"

"Here here! Here here!"

Applause rang throughout, and within moments, everyone was caught up in warm exchanges and welcome greetings. Families stood in camaraderie with those from their sister tribe. Groups from all four nations sat around and chatted as if they'd been best friends since forever. Northern youths began pursuing the young Southern beauties. Regardless of the former tensions and disconnections between the two tribes, reunion sparked wonder and relief. Like a koala sloth cuddling a tree in the middle of a menagerie, Kohana was curled up next to his huskies and bison with his lemur dozing in his lap. Katara and her friends, who had already begun expanding their circle to accommodate the newcomers, sat close together, relishing the colorful sky. Even Kanna and Pakku, the most experienced and the more wary than not, were finally convinced that none of this had been a dream and that things were really looking up.

"Ahh, it's been so long," Hakoda said, his arm around his wife's waist as he basked in the fragrance of the cologne he'd adorned himself with. "Do you remember that day, dear?" He reached for his wife's lips with his, making sure the glacier behind them hid them from view. "I was wearing this same type of cologne the night we first made love."

"Hush up," she whispered. "Do you want everyone to hear?"

"What? We're far away."

Her hand sieved through his hair. "Not far enough."

"Dad, have you seen—" the Southern prince nearly gagged at the sight of his parents caught in a heated make-out session. He cleared his throat, causing them to jerk away from each other.

"It would be really embarrassing if I had another sibling at this age, so let's keep this a family-friendly atmosphere, shall we?"

Despite it all, though, he had never seen his parents be this happy. He had never seen Gramps and Gran Gran be so optimistic for longer than a few minutes. He had never seen his sister roam the South without the fear of their family sinking deeper into destitution. He himself had never felt more relieved from a huge weight that was somewhat pulled off of his shoulders. Even so, he felt lighter. And yet, he couldn't bring himself to fully enjoy the gifts of the night. Was no one really going to ask about the heir to the North? Who exactly was the woman who made everything around him land in cloud nine so quickly? Who was the princess who gave their tribe a slice of the entire world and handed them hope on a silver platter?